@bearabe

The picture below is of me and my father representing Venezuela in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. He was born and raised there. I was born and raised in the States, but feel a strong kinship with my heritage. Here is what we think about what's going on in Venezuela: A little background first. For years, he has spent hours each week following Venezuelan news and talking with his brothers and sisters who still live there. I have dozens of cousins still living there. He called me in tears when María Corina Machado won the Nobel Prize because of the hope he had that it would focus the international spotlight on his home country. He has spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours gathering donations and putting boxes of clothing, medicine, nonperishable food, and other essentials together and sending them with a trusted third-party courier to help the needy. Anything that goes through normal mail is stolen. We still have no clue how this guy gets the packages through, but they haven't had a single one lost or seized. And when I say essentials, I mean essentials. My aunt recently told us that she hasn't even seen a single tampon or pad for sale in over 5 years. A bottle of Tylenol or Advil, if you're lucky enough to find it in stock, is a full month wages. We were actually visiting my parents for the holidays, so when I woke up and saw the news I immediately asked him his thoughts. My Dad also hates Trump and is highly critical of almost everything he does. Here was his response. "I really don't like Trump, but I think what he's done today is great. It's absolutely fantastic that that corrupt evil dictator is gone and he deserves to rot in jail for the rest of his days." In fact, his biggest concern is that the US won't go far enough because there are several people still there who are just as bad or worse and if they seize power, this will have been for naught. Remember, there was an election and they Maduro out. This is an illegitimate government that is not supported by a mandate from its population. I texted him this afternoon and he said the messages he's received from family and friends have been a mixture of awe that this could be accomplished and restored hope for the future. They thought Maduro was untouchable. The following note, which we did not write, but he shared in our family group chat, describes our feelings almost perfectly: "It is striking how, now that the world 'cares' about Venezuela, so many feel so confident in offering their uninformed opinions. Including trusted media. As a Venezuelan, I just ask you to remember this: You cannot violate the sovereignty of a country where there is no rule of law. You cannot strip the rights of a people who have none. You cannot 'take advantage' of the resources that have not belonged to us for a very long time. And above all, you cannot inflict more pain on a people who have already endured so much. This is not an attack. This is the first real chance Venezuela has had to restore its freedom after nearly 30 years of repression, persecution, fear, corruption, famine, violence, forced exile, and endless human rights abuses... And for those we have lost, today we can finally hope their fight was not in vain 🤍."